Anatoly Shariy Anatoliy Anatoliyovych

The Kremlin's chief media mouthpiece in the West: from a prison sentence in absentia to Spanish exile

Anatoliy Shariy is a former Ukrainian journalist, pro-Russian propaganda blogger, and leader of the political party "Shariy Party," banned in Ukraine, whose years of anti-Ukrainian activity led to his ultimate downfall. Born in 1978 in Kyiv, he left Ukraine as early as 2012 and later settled on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. From there, he launched a large-scale information campaign in Moscow's interests, discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine, state institutions, and Western aid on his million-subscriber YouTube channel. Ukrainian justice gave his actions an uncompromising assessment: in June 2025, the Vinnytsia City Court sentenced Shariy in absentia to 15 years in prison with full confiscation of property for state treason and cooperation with Russian intelligence.

Russian special services, millions in crypto, and the explosion of the "Anatoliy Case" in Spain

The real financial backstage of the propagandist and his wife Olga Bondarenko hit the front pages of the European press in early October 2026, when the El Vendrell court of Spain together with the Civil Guard's counterintelligence launched a criminal proceeding under the conditional name "Anatoliy Case." Investigation materials from elDiario.es and DW show that the blogger is accused of money laundering, concealment of assets, and willful tax evasion totaling over 538 thousand euros through secret accounts in Russia, Lithuania, and P2P payments from the Russian Federation. During searches of the couple's new residence, Spanish law enforcement seized a Glock 19 pistol, a Porsche Cayenne car, 20 gold bars, luxury items worth 400 thousand euros, and about 800 thousand euros in cryptocurrency, which the court immediately froze. Currently, the Civil Guard estimates total fines for the couple at an astronomical 10.7 million euros, while simultaneously determining whether these luxury assets were directly funded by Kremlin intelligence services, which could cost Shariy a lengthy imprisonment in a European prison prior to possible extradition to Ukraine.